1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to parental safety equipment, and more particularly to an improved child safety harness and adjustable tether providing improved comfort and safety for the child and greater reliability.
2. Description of Related Art
Small children have an innate curiosity about strange and new environments which may cause them to wander or explore. Uninhibited, children will seek out anything which catches their attention, or may simply wander about without the attention that an adult is aware of. The preoccupied or curious child can sometimes wander into harms way in an otherwise innocuous environment for adults. For this reason, parents or caregivers in charge of small children must constantly be aware of their charges at all times. This task is difficult if the adult is has no other responsibilities, but may border on the impossible if the adult is trying to divide its attention between the child and other matters. The situation is further complicated by the presence of crowds such as one might find in a shopping center, grocery store, little league game, and so on.
To assist the parent in controlling and protecting the child, it is known to connect the child via a tether so as to limit the child's exploration to a manageable area. These tethers can relieve the parent of carrying the child in dangerous areas such as crossing a busy street or passing a fountain, and can thus serve as a considerable aid to the parent. However, tethers of the art also suffer drawbacks in the safety and comfort of the child, which can either injure the child or cause the child to resist wearing the tether. These drawbacks are especially prevalent when combined with a designated harness for use with the tether. For example, see Zimmermann U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,017 and Leach U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,818. Harness and tether combinations heretofore have been designed with shoulder straps fixed to a waistband in the front which may cause the harness to twist, bind, and even slip off the child. Furthermore, the harnesses typically lack padding to protect the child and connect to the tether in a way which permits tangling, and the point of contact is typically too low placing undo stress on the child's sensitive lower back, subjecting the child to a greater risk of injury.